I crashed the party over at “Today In Podcasting” and elbowed my way into their conversation.  I caught up with Rob, Gary, Jeff, and David while they reviewed the news from the week. 

Visit http://www.podcastpickle.com/casts/4/ to hear Show #42, and bear witness.

The following is an actual Skype conversation between myself and another member of the podcasting community:

[3:55:07 PM] OtherGuy says: hey scott whats your thoughts on the new downloadble media association ?

[4:29:02 PM] Scott Fletcher says: Well, I think that their web site graphics are ridiculously whimsical. Beyond that, it’s a group whose members carry significant weight, representing a good cross-section of ‘portable media landscape.’ It’s also good news for industry commentators [such as myself] given the eclectic-and-likely-dysfunctional make-up of the association.

[4:31:15 PM] Scott Fletcher says: Podshow + PodTrac + PodTech + PodBridge = PodTrainWreck

[4:32:19 PM] Scott Fletcher says: [Sure, there is a lot of hyperbole in that statement, but it’s funny.]

[4:34:35 PM] Scott Fletcher says: How about calling the new association: www.iPodShowTracLifeBridgeRadioOnline.com ?

[4:43:23 PM] Scott Fletcher says: In summary, I don’t have a strong opinion about it. The value of my shows to my sponsors will remain the same, regardless of what standardized Formats/Units/Sponsorship the association might come up with. I suppose that there is a slight risk to the disenfranchised independent producer that the association might declare a standard that doesn’t actually represent a global standard, but I suppose that it will help more than it hurts. De facto standards have been emerging for three years without the help of an association, so its probably time to document a few of them and stabilize them so that the rest of the world can rely upon them for business. So…

[4:43:30 PM] Scott Fletcher says: That’s all I have to say about that.

[4:46:50 PM] OtherGuy says: Thanks whats funny is that at least 3 of those companies use [standards developed by another company]… It looks to me like there will be a lot of agendas…[edit]

[4:50:31 PM] Scott Fletcher says: That’s the side-effect of being a true leader. If you show other people “the way,” you make it possible for them to draw a map and claim it as their own. There have been a lot of ‘good ideas’ in the podcast world, but the only ones that really matter are the ones that work.

Best wishes to all involved.  Given the size of the association, I’d bet that there is at least one member of the association who underestimates the challenge.

They won’t be able to please everyone, nor should they try.  The process will be littered with compromises and some least-worst choices.  I look forward to news of their progress, and hope to be entertained by the natural by-products of friction, standardization, and general “committee behavior.”

Speaking on behalf of all new-media commentators, news outlets, and pundits around the globe… “Thank you!  After a long dry spell, we finally have something to talk about!”

You know that I offer voiceover services to podcasters and companies around the globe.  You also know that I have no shame and will say (just about) anything that someone puts down on paper. 

Well, you reap what you sow.  Check out this cellphone ringtone.  (Warning: no really work-safe.)

Random Note: Flarp is the greatest invention in the world. There is a direct correlation between the coolness of a person and the number and severity of uncontrollable fits the person has when playing with Flarp.

HEY!  Media mogul David Lawrence has invited me to be on his show again tonight (June 14, 2007) for an hour tonight at 9pm Pacific time (12midnight Eastern).  We’ll talk about Microsoft’s upcoming assult on Adobe Flash technologies, me being a geek dad, what I’ve been working on for the past 8 months, and other stuff.  I’l probably be on his podcast after the show, too, but I’m not sure.

Listen live on the web, in several major radio markets, or on XM Satellite radio Open Road 171.

If you haven’t yet subscribed to David’s Personal Netcast podcast, you don’t know what you’re missing.  It’s almost always interesting, and if it’s not, it always only 10 minutes long. 

———————-

ALSO, I’ll be doing a wordpress upgrade in the next few days, so please pardon any dust.  Usually, when I do an upgrade, your podcatchers want to download all of my old shows.  Given that I haven’t done a new show in a long time, you might become annoyed.  Apologies in advance.

It was an honor to be interviewed by Shelly Brisbin for the June 2007 issue of Blogger and Podcaster Magazine.  Shelly wrote a several-page article (staring on page 32) entitled “Acting Up: Hw you perform will determine if people want to hear what you say.”

It’s a great article with comments from several podcaster old-timers like Mark Yoshimoto Nemcoff, Grant Baciocco from The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd, and, er, me.  Special thanks to Shelly for using me in the stinger.  Usually, my quotes sound loosely-threaded and ill-conceived, but Shelly managed to find a good one to end the story with.  THANKS!

Blogger and Podcaster Magazine has a free on-line edition, or you can pony up the cash to have an actual magazine delivered to your door.  Stop by and take a look!

 The battery in my ever-faithful iRiver H10 finally quit, and I was forced to choose my new media player.  My choices were:

• The ever-dominant, high-quality iPod with its gazillion inexpensive accessories
  —  or  —
• The much maligned, near-beta-quality Zune with its vaporware promises of features and technogasms.

The answer was simple:  The Zune.  I’m a sucker for hope.

I am the senior software architect (whatever that is) at an all-Microsoft shop, my entire house is wired to my Microsoft Media Center PC.  Most importantly, Apple’s iTunes’ silo of exclusion is strong enough to withstand a nuclear blast.  For all of the anti-Microsoft talk that goes on in the “haters’ forums,” few people admit that Apple’s customers voluntarily participate in benevolent dictatorship called ”the iPod experience.”  Compared to Apple’s iPod business model, Microsoft Zune stragtegy looks like open-source.  I expect to see a Zune developer support from MSDN within the next 12 months.

Now. the obligatory Pro/Con list:

Pros: 

• Great user interface and logical controls.
• Great sound.
• Great sync speed with the PC
• Cool wireless sharing (but it’s not “super cool”)
• Good price ($200 at WalMart, OfficeDept)

Cons:

• Many accessories have not yet hit the market
• The Zune is a bit thicker than the iPod counterpart,
• Zune’s battery life is suspect due to the “ver 2.0″ hardware’s use of descrete components.  Expect better battery life with the next generation of hardware.
• Zune software is a clunky version of Windows Media Player.
• Zune software doesn’t yet do RSS/podcast feeds.
• No direct integration with Windows Media Center’s dvr-ms format?  Whaaaat?

…and yet, Steven Colbert and I are still very happy with our purchases.  I will probably buy one for my wife.  Why?  Because I know that Griffin Technologies and Belkin are bringing accessories to market, and that the Microsoft developers hate the current version as much as I do (though they would say that “we see enormous potential in the future of Zune.”)

Besides, check out this mean-ass case!  Reminds me of something that Halo’s Master Chief would carry.  Beotch.

I was honored to be a guest on a recent ExtraLife Radio, hosted by web comic artist, video game expert, and mini media mogul Scott Johnson.  Brian and Obsidian were great, and fun was had by all. 

Come listen to us talk about He-Man, Saturday morning cartoons, and Xanadu!  It’s the most important thing you’ll ever do.  Ever.

http://www.myextralife.com/?p=5060
(Check the graphic on the post at his site, yo.  Priceless.)

In addition to being the “bronze voice of podcasting,” I am also software developer.  If you’re a fan of the Podcheck Review show, you know that I have been working 60 hours-a-week for the last several months to grunt out genius and sophisticated (read “complex and cantankerous”) systems for a new software product.  That has pre-empted 99% of all of my participation in this new media landscape since October.  Gee, where has all the time gone?  Oh, wait.  I remember now, and every moment of time has been excruciating.

In any event, I have self-allocated a company American Express card and have booked my trip to MIX ‘07, a developer conference in Las Vegas April 30 through May 2, 2007.  If you’re gong to be there, drop me an e-mail at show -at — podcheck.com, and we can connect.  I’ll be at the PURE party thing for a while, but will probably prefer to spend much of the 72-hour conversation time actually having conversations. 

If you attended my session at the conference, thank you!  It was a pleasure to speak with you.  If you did not attend my session, you will be granted the gift that only “new media” can give; the opportunity to travel back in time and hear my session via the interweb.  

As promised, I recorded the session and will post the audio and PowerPoint presentation in this feed.  Look for it here in a few days.  For the technically-curious, I clipped my iRiver H10 portable media player to my lapel and used the built-in mic to record my speach.

Special thanks to Pete from the Illinoise! podcast for stopping by to listen!

While preparing for my speech to the AdClub tomorrow, I encountered a bit of a snafu over at Arnold’s podcast feed.  I clicked the podcast link on the home page and received this message (click to enlarge):

I guess Skynet has taken over.  Head for the hills!

I will be presenting to the Public Relations Association of Central Illinois and Peoria AdClub on March 21st, 2007 at the Radisson Hotel here in Peoria, IL.  The theme of the conference is “Keeping Ahead in a Fast-Paced World,â€� with an emphasis on new technology.  Here’s the blurb from my session:

Podcasting: Who, What, and Why bother?

There is nothing magical about the technology of podcasting.  In fact, the “podcasting processâ€� can be tedious and complicated for both the listeners and the producers.  If finding and listening to podcasts is so much more complicated than tuning into broadcast radio or TV, what is it about podcasting that drives people to go through all of that trouble? 

Scott Fletcher will examine the key differences between traditional media and podcasting, and what gives podcasts the power to create emotional ties with global audiences.  In the process, Scott will reveal some obvious truths and important perspectives about producing shows that foster passion in audiences and promote conversations with customers.  (As you might have guessed, this presentation will be recorded live for a podcast.)

 I will probably take the time to compose some sort of audio/video cast from the presentation and stick it in this [withering] feed. 

What would happen to the Daily Show or The Colbert Report if absurdity and irony faded  from the polictical landscape?  I guess all that we would have left would be The Soup and Best Week Ever (which are my only two guilty media pleasures, by the way).

By now, you have guessed that I am really talking about Podcheck.  Podcheck’s subject matter has lost it’s sizzle, and the news items that Podcheck has covered for the last 2 years have become mundane and uninteresting to me.  In the early days, we all had to figure out RSS, mp3 encoding rates, ID3 tags, and blog software.  Now, there are standard methods and tools, and numerous how-to books.  In the early days, the news from the podcatastophere was ever changing and very interesting to me as new players came and went, new mini-battles developed between personalities, ideologies, and technologies.  In the early days, there were a handful of players, and most of them were outspoken, novel, and/or interesting.  Now, there are a zillion players and, while some may still be outspoken, and while many are still quite interesting, few of them are truly novel in the sea of novelty.

 

I’m bored with the meta.  I’m no longer interested in the “inside baseball” of podcasting.

I had two options:  1) Change the focus and direction of the show, or 2) discontinue this show and move on to something else of greater interest.  I have chosen the latter and have decided to move on.

Over the last 9 years, I have become a subject matter expert in several other fields.  You will hear from me sometime this year, either in a new panel show from my company or in someone else’s show.  Most importantly, I will use podcasting to do what it does well; communicate highly specialized information to markets underserved by broadcast channels, fostering conversations within communities that cross geographic/physical boundaries.

As for Podcheck, I will likely record two more shows; a “last call” show announcing the end and requesting suggestions for a Best Of Podcheck episode, and then the “Best of Podcheck” finale.

Do you have a favorite bit or segment from any of the last 30-some shows?  Leave a comment, or e-mail me at show -at - podcheck.com.Â

Download mp3

Here is the link to the hour-long roundtable led by Jeff Lebow with Rob Walch (Podcast411) and Shelly Brisbin (writer extraordinary), and me (me)  to discuss podcasting’s impact on politics, culture, and business in 2006. 

Hear our thoughts on:

• Whether or not podcasting will play a significant role in politics in 2007.
• How “the podcasting topic” is being integrated into other tradeshows and marketplaces.
• Why podcast networks exist, and the difference between general networks and boutique networks.  Do they really influence how advertisers spend their money?
• How has the technology of “new media” evolved in 2006?  Has anything really changed in the way that people create (podcast) media, or consume (podcast) media?
• Was 2006 supposed to be “The Year of Video?”  Why does video have so much success building communities and sharing clips?  Why isn’t there a similar system for audio.
• “New media” and its impact on education.

…and in the second hour (at http://worldbridges.net/node/3264)

• Our predictions for 2007
• Some ranting about “Web 2.0″ and how that label sucks.

(WordPress might very well include this first hour’s file in the feed, but that’s not a bad thing.)  Here’s the link to the file:

• download first hour’s audio file from WorldBridges.net

Visit the WorldBridges website for more information about their worthwhile endeavors in education, and facilitating the use of web technologies to communicate across borders. 

In fact, visit their site to hear LAST YEAR’s show, too!  Hear a great discussion between Rob, myself, and some very intelligent folks from the WorldBridges community and the state of podcasting at the end of 2005.  (Discover how 2006 was supposed to be the year of “HIWIWIWI”)

http://worldbridges.com/livewire/2006/01/03/discussion-with-scott-fletcher-of-podcheckreviewcom/

http://worldbridges.com/livewire/2006/01/03/discussion-with-scott-fletcher-of-podcheckreviewcom/

Bless you, and best wishes for peace and health for you in 2007.
–Scott Fletcher

Tune into the live WorldBridges Webcastathon today (Sunday, New Year’s Eve 2006) to hear me yammer on about blah-blah-blah.  The is the second year that I’ve been on their show, and it is a hoot.  Last year, there were folks listening from Iraq, New England, and all points in between.  Stop by at 2PM EST USA (19:00 GMT) to listen live and join in the chat, or catch the recorded show in their archives.

So far, here is their schedule of topics for today:

1300GMT - Webheads Skypecast Talkshoe
1400GMT - Drupal   Skypecast Talkshoe
1600GMT - Second Life
1900GMT - Podcasting / New Media Skypecast Talkshoe
2100GMT - Global News & Issues
2200GMT - Second Life
2300GMT - K12Online Conference Reunion Skypecast
midnight GMT - EdTechYearly

Join us, won’t you?

UPDATE: Rob Walch and Shelly Brisbin will be on the show with me!  They are such heavyweights, and I am honored to be a part of the conversation.

Podcheck listeners are predominantly fellow podcasters, and each one of you shapes the new media landscape.  Whether you have 5 listeners or 5,000 listeners, you touch the lives of others who, in turn, influence the world in which we live.

“YOU are the hottest thing in podcasting.”  I first said that last year in 2005 when Rush Limbaugh released his podcast and declared that he was the biggest thing since sliced bread.  While his audience is massive, your audience has more potential to influence your world than Rush Limbaugh’s audience.  New spheres of influence are emerging, and new media consumption patterns, interrelationships, and affinities are coming to light.  You are fueling change.

Time Magazine seems to agree.  Time Magazine just named you “Person of the Year” for 2006.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1569514,00.html

Enjoy your new-found recognition, and never give up your passion.

Holy moly, look what just happened…

Wizzard Software (OTCBB: WIZD) announced today that it has agreed to acquire Libsyn, the world’s largest podcasting network. Following the acquisition, Libsyn will maintain its independence and continue to grow its successful brand and loyal podcasting community, empowering podcasting everywhere.

Libsyn is the home of some of the biggest shows in podcasting, like The Mac Cast, Sex is Fun, Schlaflos in Muenchen (hi Anik!), and Keith and The Girl.  Congratulations to the Libsyn guys, and please join me in welcoming Wizzard Software to the podcasting family. 

Wizzard might become our new favorite uncle.  That other uncle kinda makes me feel… I dunno… dirty, I guess.  Quit ASKING ME ABOUT IT! (*Scott storms off to his room*)

Â

I am buried neck deep in a sofware project, but did manage to fire off a contribution to Dave at Chub Creek a few weeks ago.  (How busy have I been? Well, it is 5am, I am at work, and I have not been home to bed yet.  Sheesh.)  This brightened my day, though…

I am the voice of a futuristic coffee maker in a podcast drama: “DarkSpeed� produced by Dave from Chub Creek.  It’s an amazingly well-produced (and funny) little drama that he puts together using mp3 audio files that his friends send him.  The miracle of the production is that no one records their parts at the same time, and there is no script.  How does that work?  Very well.

Check out Episode 75 - October 22nd, 2006 at http://www.chubcreek.com/ The whole show runs 34:32, and my bit runs from 19:44 to 24:30.  You’ll hear the ‘old’ coffee machine, and then you’ll hear my “new coffee machine.â€�  There is some profanity (a few sh**s, and a F*** or two) that make it “not safe for work,” but the language is only used for punctuation. Â